Welcome Blake Mathews/New KHOU Meteorologist

[srainhoutx]

It is with great pleasure and KHOU Weather Forum pride to announce that one of our own Weather Forum member since he was a youngster, has officially been hired by KHOU as the new Weekend Meteorologist. Blake is a Houston native and those of us that have been around the KHOU Weather Forum for many years will recall Blake as he nurtured his passion for weather as a young teenager and eventually left our area in 2011 to begin his On Camera Meteorologist Career in Jacksonville, FL. Blake will be moving back home in early September and will be joining in our discussions soon here in our KHOU Weather Forum. We welcome you home, Blake and are very proud that yet another of our Weather Forum Members has achieved their lifelong dream.

[brooksgarner]

We are excited to welcome Blake to the team. Thank you for posting the announcement!

[TexasBreeze]

Neat! Isn't he the one who worked in the Bryan/ College Station area?

[srainhoutx]

Neat! Isn't he the one who worked in the Bryan/ College Station area?

Yes he did.

[Katdaddy]

A huge welcome home to Blake! I remember Blake from years ago as he was following his passion of weather on the forum. He was missed when he moved to Jacksonville, FL. Its an honor to have Blake as the new KHOU Met.

[Ounce]

Very good news! Welcome home, Blake.

[tireman4]

YES....!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Stormrider]

Welcome Blake!

[srainhoutx]

I see Blake is setting in at KHOU and will be 'on air' this weekend. It's good to have you back home in Houston, Blake. Don't be a stranger on the KHOU Weather Forum.

[tireman4]

Yeah, I agree. Come on back Blake. Sniff...we remember when you were just a pup. Now you are on the air. Oh my. We need a watch party!!

[Ounce]

So what is the process to get a new on-air met ready for on-air?
From a meteorological perspective, can the newbie analyze and assess what the upcoming weather is to be for a desired time period?
Is the software generally the same across the TV stations in the country?
I'm sure learning all the city and town name's pronunciation is part of the orientation, which Blake shouldn't have much of a problem.

Thanks.

[Texaspirate11]

WTG BLAKE!
I was up early as I have to go to work this early Saturday morning.
I flipped on KHOU and there you were - your FIRST broadcast!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BRAVO - you did really well!!!!!

[TexasMetBlake]

Hello everybody!

First, thank you for the nice welcome. It's great to be home! As many of you know, I'm originally from The Woodlands area and I've lived through many of the historic weather events that have happened here over the last 25 years including the 1994 flood, the 1997 ice storm, TS Allison, Hurricane Rita evacuation, Hurricane Ike and all the snow events including the Christmas miracle of 2004 and the '08 and '09 events.

After working in Bryan/College Station, I actually made a quick stop at KPRC as their assignment editor. After about 11 months there, I was transferred to Jacksonville, Florida to really begin honing my craft as a tv weatherman. I was there for just shy of five years and now here I am.

I'm looking forward to settling in here in Houston. I really have no desire to go anywhere else. My family is here. My friends are here. I know the climatology of the area and I have a brain packed full of useless information about the city, the geography and climate that will only serve me here.

I've read all your welcome's and I'm so grateful for the warm welcome. TV can be a humbling experience in more ways than one. I'm glad that I can grow my career in a familiar place and a place that I've always wanted to call home. I didn't realize how much I missed Texas or how much Texas was a part of me until I moved away.

Remember this: Learn to appreciate what you have now before time makes you appreciate what you HAD.

Ok, so I believe there was a question by one of the members here. Let me see if I can answer it:

There is a mixture of things that you need before you can be an on-air meteorologist and the mix is different for everybody. That mix is a degree, seals, good timing, great on-camera presence, well spoken, have a friendly face and a good rapport. Not all the ingredients are necessary and the formula is different for everybody.

Personally speaking, every job I've ever had, present job excluded, I had because the timing was perfect. In College Station, I was interning when the weekend guy quit. I showed up to intern one afternoon and got sent to a job interview. They hired me right then. I didn't even apply!

The job in Jacksonville I got in a similar way. They needed a weather producer/fill-in quickly. I was at KPRC at the time behind the scenes in news. I asked to have a meeting with my news director because I was going to quit. During that meeting she said that I'd be a good fit for that job in Jacksonville. Since the two stations were part of the same company, I transferred over.

My story is rare. Don't count on good timing to get you in the door. Here are some helpful tips:

1. Apply to small markets. You aren't going to start out in a large city. So take any job you can get. Your pay will be extremely low. Barely enough to eat but the experience is worth its weight in gold and the money gets much better as your experience level grows and the markets grow bigger.

2. Be willing to move! You will likely have to move to some random corner of the country to get started. Do it!

3. Get your seals.

The weather systems are more uniform now than they've probably ever been across the country since WSI bought out Weather Central. So when I took the job at KHOU, it was identical to the systems i worked on in Jacksonville in every way.

Thanks again, guys! Here's to a COLD winter! (God willing!)

[jcarr]

Great to have you here in an "Official" capacity!!

[Ounce]

Thanks, Blake. I'm too far along in years to do a career change. I was just curious about how one gets up and going, plus whether one can hit the ground running upon arrival. Thanks for your time.